Fastener forming and inserting machine



March 6, 1962 c. A. WATKINS FASTENER FORMING AND INSERTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 15, 1960 March 6, 1962 c. A. WATKINS FASTENER FORMING AND INSERTING mourns Filed Feb. 15, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

CHARLES A. MT/f/NJ' March 6, 1962 c. A. WATKINS FASTENER FORMING AND INSERTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 15, 1960 'NVENTOR.

CHAIN-5 4. WATKINS ATTORNEY-5 3,023,412 FASTENER FORMING AND INSERTING MACHINE Charles A. Watkins, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to The Auto- Soler Company, a corporation of Georgia Filed Feb. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 8,766 4 Claims. (Cl. 1-1) This invention relates to fastener forming and inserting machines of the type arranged for forming fasteners from a continuous length of wire and inserting the fasteners formed in work to be secured, and more particularly to a machine of this type generally comparable to that dlsclosed in copending application Serial No. 591,680, filed June 15, 1956, now US. Patent No. 2,944,758, issued .Iuly 12, 1960, but further arranged uniquely for increasmg substantially the capacity of the machine for handling relatively large size work eifectively.

According to the present invention, the fastener formmg and inserting machine provided incorporates a frame structure formed with an extensive throat portion at which a very substantially increased clearance is provided for accommodating the work being handled, while at the same time arranging the operating mechanisms of the machine on the frame structure for securing the work effectively despite the fact that the extended throat port on provided in the frame structure prevents mechanical linkage of these operating mechanisms in the usual manner. A fastener forming and inserting machine arranged 1n accordance with the present invention affords substantial operating advantages in the nailing of such structures as wooden shipping crates, box spring frames, furniture panels, and a variety of similar items in which nailing must be done adjacent the edges of a structure that has substantial breadth as well as length.

The foregoing and other features of the present invent1on are described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fastener forming and inserting machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation corresponding generally to FIG. 1, but partly broken away and partly sectioned to shcw the relative arrangement of the operating elements; an

FIG. 3 is a diagram indicating the arrangement of the electrical control system and the air pressure system provided for actuating the operating controls of the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, and more particularly at first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the illustrated embodiment of the present invention comprises a fastener forming and inserting machine incorporating an operating head, as indicated generally at 10, by which fasteners are formed and inserted in work W carried by a work supporting means indicated generally at- 11.

The operating head corresponds substantially with the arrangement disclosed at length in the above noted copending application Serial No. 591,680, incorporating a fastener forming and inserting means at 12 that is operated cyclically from a drive shaft 13 to draw acontinuous length of fastener wire F from a reel supply R thereof, and to cut a fastener (not shown) from the leading end of the fastener wire F and drive the fastener thus formed during each operating cycle.

The work supporting means 11 is likewise similar to that disclosed in the copending application Serial No. 591,680 referred to above in that it incorporates a work supporting table 14 mounted on a supporting arm structure 15 that is arranged for vertical adjustment along a rack member 16 to provide for positioning the work supporting table 14 in properly spaced relation below the States Patent "9 3,023,412 Patented Mar. 6, 1962 fastener forming and inserting means 12 to accommodate the work W being handled.

The operating head 10 and work supporting means 11, however, are carried on a frame structure 17 that is specially formed according to the present invention with an extended throat portion at 18. The frame structure 17 is arranged in any suitable manner to stand uprightly on a base portion and has the throat portion 18 arranged intermediate the height thereof and extending from an open end adjacent the work supporting means 11, so that substantial clearance is provided within the throat portion 18 for manipulating work W on the supporting means 11 that is of appreciable breadth (as indicated in dotted lines at W in FIG. 2) as well as length and requires nailing adjacent the edges thereof.

To form the throat portion 18, spaced horizontal members 19 and 20 are employed in the frame structure 17, and these members 19 and 20 are preferably provided with a hollow cross-section for a purpose that will appear presently. The closed end of the throat portion 18 is in turn formed by one or more vertical members 21 arranged as required to provide the necessary bracing strength thereat. A throat portion 18 having a lateral reach of the order of 30 to 50 inches may be provided readily in this manner, and reaches of even greater extent may also be provided in particular instances by suitably strengthening the design.

When a throat portion 18 of the sort described above is provided in the frame structure 17, however, it be comes impossible as a practical matter to link the operating head 10 and work supporting means 11 mechanically for operating actuation in the usual manner, and the present invention accordingly provides a special actuating control arrangement to eliminate this difliculty. For this purpose, an electrical power circuit connection is provided for the machine at 22 and a pneumatic or airpressure power circuit connection at 23.

The electrical power circuit connection 22, as detailed in FIG. 3, is wired through a line switch 24 from which connections run to a drive motor 25 for the operating head 10 and to two parallel circuits 26 and 27, in one of which parallel circuits 26 a manually operable foot treadle switch 28 is wired in series with an actuating solenoid 29 for an air-operated clutch means 30 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and in the other of which circuits 27 a cam operated microswitch 31 is Wired in series with a second actuating solenoid 32 for an air-operated pressure means 33 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

With the above described circuit connections, closing of the line switch 24 results in starting the drive motor 25 for the operating head 10 which is arranged for driving connection with the operating head drive shaft 13 through the air-operated clutch means 30 referred to above as being associated with the actuating solenoid 29. The foot treadle 28 thereupon serves as a selectively operable actuating control through which a cyclic operation of the fastener forming and inserting means 12 is obtained whenever it is tripped; the tripping of foot treadle 28 closing the parallel circuit 26 so as to energize the solenoid 29 and thereby actuate the clutch means 30 to connect the motor 25 with the drive shaft 13. If the foot treadle 28 is released upon tripping, the fastener forming and inserting means 12 will complete just one cycle of operation, while it may be made to continue successive cyclic operations by holding the foot treadle 28 depressed.

The air-operated clutch means 30 comprises simply,

the clutch means 30 is supplied from the previously mentioned pneumatic power circuit connection 23 which, as seen best in FIG. 3, runs through a suitable lubricator unit at 34 to connections with parallel supply conduits at 35 and 36, the first of which (35) is connected through a flexible hose coupling 37 to the clutch means 30.

The other parallel supply conduit 36 extends through a flexible hose coupling at 38 to a valve mechanism 39 from which a pair of flexible hose couplings 40 and 41 are connected to the previously mentioned air-operated pressure means 33, that comprises a double action air cylinder and piston having the valve mechanism 39 therefor controlled by the actuating solenoid 32 in the manner of an air motor to raise and retract a shiftable pressure member 42 that is incorporated in the work supporting means 11 to clamp the Work W at the fastener forming and inserting means 12 during the insertion of each fastener in the Work W. This shiftable pressure member 42 is suitably formed by an anvil element mounted at the extending end of the piston rod of the air-operated pressure means 33 for rising through a clearance aperture 14' in the work supporting table 14 to exert the necessary work clamping pressure in opposed relation to the fastener driving force exerted by the fastener forming and inserting means 12.

Timed operation of the shiftable clamping member 42 for the above noted purpose is provided through the previously mentioned microswitch 31 which is operated automatically by a cam 43 carried on the operating head drive shaft 13 so as to trip the microswitch 31 during the initial portion of each operating cycle of the fastener forming and inserting means 12 and maintain it closed until the fastener insertion accomplished during each cycle has been completed. Accordingly, the previously described manual tripping of the foot treadle 28 to close the parallel electrical circuit 26, and thereby initiate an operating cycle of the fastener forming and inserting means 12, has the secondary effect of automaticaly tripping the microswitch 31 to close the further parallel electrical circuit 27 and thereby energize the actuating solenoid 32 to operate the pressure means 33 for raising the shiftable member or anvil 42 to an active work clamping position, as indicated in FIG. 2, during each fastener insertion. Subsequent opening of the microswitch 31 upon release by the cam 43 as each cyclic fastener forming and inserting operation is completed results in deenergizing the solenoid 32 to cause retraction of the shiftable clamping member 42 by the pressure means 33 to its normal position in preparation for similar clamping action during the next operating cycle.

By forming the spaced horizontal frame members 19 and 20 defining the throat portion 18 with a hollow cross-section, as previously noted, these members 19 and 20 may be further arranged advantageously to house a considerable portion of the electrical and pneumatic operating circuits and thereby utilize the throat portion 18 for practical installation and protection of these circuits, as well as for providing a very substantial work handling capacity in comparison with that previously available in machines of this sort.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a fastener forming and inserting machine of the type arranged for forming fasteners from a continuous length of wire and inserting said fasteners in Work to be secured, a frame structure formed to stand uprightly on a base portion and incorporating a relatively extensive, lateral throat portion intermediate its height, work supporting means carried on said frame structure below said throat portion and adjacent the open end thereof for vertical adjustment in relation thereto, whereby clearance is provided within said throat portion for manipulating work on said supporting means that is of substantial breadth as well as length, fastener forming and inserting means carried on said frame structure above said throat portion and in opposed relation to said work supporting means, a shiftable member incor- V porated in said work supporting means for movement in opposed relation to said fastener forming and inserting means to clamp work thereat during the insertion of each fastener therein, manually operable means adjacent said frame structure base portion for selective electrical actuation of said fastener forming and inserting means cyclically to form and insert fasteners in Work on said supporting means, and means adjacent said fastener forming and inserting means operable automatically by each cyclic operating movement thereof for electrical actuation of said shiftable member of said Work supporting means to clamp work at said fastener forming and inserting means during the insertion of each fastener in said work.

2. In a fastener forming and inserting machine, the structure defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that the throat portion of said frame structure comprises horizontal structural members having a hollow cross-section, in that said manually and automatically operable actuating means both comprise electrical switch means for tripping to perform their actuating function, in that both of said actuating means operate respective air-pressure means for controlling the respective operation of said fastener forming and inserting means and said shiftable clamping member of said Work supporting means, in that respective electrical and air-pressure power circuits are provided for said actuating means and air-pressure means, and in that said horizontal structural members of said frame structure throat portion are arranged for housing said power circuits within the hollow cross-section thereof.

3. In a fastener forming and inserting machine of the type arranged for forming fasteners from a continuous length of wire and inserting said fasteners in work to be secured, a frame structure formed to stand uprightly on a base portion and incorporating a relatively extensive, lateral throat portion intermediate its height, work supporting means carried on said frame structure below said throat portion adjacent the open end thereof and vertically adjustable thereat for selective clearance disposition within said throat portion of work extending beyond said sup porting means, fastener forming and inserting means carried on said frame structure above said throat portion and in opposed relation to said work supporting means, a shiftable member incorporated in said work supporting means for movement in opposed relation to said fastener forming and inserting means to clamp work thereat during the insertion of each fastener therein, manually operable means comprising a foot treadle switch adjacent said frame structure base portion and connected electrically for actuating cyclic operation of said fastener forming and inserting means to form and insert fasteners in work on said supporting means, and means comprising a microswitch adjacent said fastener forming and inserting means operable automatically by each cyclic operating movement thereof and connected electrically for actuating said shiftable member of said work supporting means to clamp work at said fastener forming and inserting means during the insertion of each fastener in said work.

4. In a fastener forming and inserting machine, the structure defined in claim 6 and further characterized in that the cyclic operation of said fastener forming and inserting means is controlled by an air operated clutch means incorporating an actuating solenoid with which said foot treadle switch is electrically connected, and in that movement of said shiftable clamping member of said work supporting means is controlled by an air operated pres- 5 sure means incorporating an actuating solenoid with which 2,900,638 said microswitch is electrically connected. 2,906,010 2,921,316 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 469 305 2,871,479 Wright Feb. 3, 1959 6 OKelley Aug. 25, 1959 Hannable Sept. 29, 1959 Carlzen Jan. 19, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 22, 1937 

